You can also help your child take control of nightmares by “re-scripting” the nightmare verbally or through drawings. This involves drawing or talking about the nightmare and working out an alternate happy ending. This is best done during the day, and using your child’s interests to craft a happy ending. This technique could be used immediately after the nightmare, but only if your child is struggling to sleep again for fear of returning to the dream, otherwise it may un-necessarily delay returning to sleep.
Please add your experiences with this approach in the comments below. Please provide the age of your child when you tried it, and how long you tried it for. If it helped, please share the effects you saw. If it didn’t help, why do you think it didn’t work in your case?
